Find them by using:

• RamSearch

  • After running your topic search, limit your results to the Research Starters source type

• Minuteman Catalog Search

  • Minuteman Catalog Search has no 'Reference' limiter, so include the type of reference work you want as part of your search query (e.g.: encyclopedia, handbook, etc.), then limit to those at FSU only
  • OR type the following abbreviation in the search box: Ref , then choose the Call Number field (instead of Keyword), then limit results to see those only at FSU, to get a sense for what we have in our print reference book collection

• Credo Reference

  • After running your topic search, you will see results from various reference e-books
  • You can also browse the e-books there by general subject area

• Our List of Encyclopedic Databases

  • Choose one of the databases, then run your topic search

• Gale eBooks

  • Choose one of the reference e-books, open it, peruse the table of contents, then read

Physical Location:

• Our print Reference books are in the Quiet Study Room on the 1st floor
• A small 'Permanent Reserve' collection is kept behind the Access Services Desk
• A few older reference works are inter-filed within the main collection (Lower Mezzanine and Ground levels)

What they're useful for:

• Basic, authoritative facts about a topic, including contact information for companies, schools, organizations
• Brainstorming or refining a paper topic

Find them by using:

• The Minuteman Catalog

  • This is the quickest way to see the print books we own: limit your results to print books, and to FSU only
  • The Minuteman Network also gives us online access to: e-books and e-audiobooks
  • Other libraries may own book formats that we do not, such as: Braille books, Juvenile Readalongs, Large Print books, Playaway Audiobooks, Spoken CDs, and Spoken Cassettes.
  • Run your topic search, then limit your results to the specific book format you prefer. Request and have books from other libraries sent to FSU for you to use

• RamSearch

  • Run your topic search, then limit your results to the Books (for print) and/or eBooks Source type

• Ebsco e-Books

  • Run your topic search to see relevant e-books

• Our listing of databases that include e-books

  • Pick a database and run your topic search

Physical Location:

• Our Open Book Stacks/shelves on the Lower Mezzanine and Ground levels
• Curriculum Library (also Open Stacks) on the Upper Mezzanine
• In the McNaughton Browsing Collection bookshelves directly across from the Access Services Desk
• On the shelves surrounding the first floor fireplace
• On the Minuteman / ILL Hold shelves behind the Access Services desk
• 'Folios' (large, oversized books) are in call number order on the first three shelves to the right on the Ground Floor as you enter from the elevator side
• Any audiobooks are inter-filed with our main collection (amongst the books)

What they're useful for:

• If a monograph (academic book, can be peer-reviewed), detailed scholarly information on a topic
• If literature (novel, autobiography, memoir), primary sources for literature research
• If art books (many images), useful to art history, art, photography, and graphic design courses (many of these are oversized and are filed in the Folio shelves on the Ground Floor)
• If from the McLaughton Collection (shelved across from the Access Services Desk), leisure reading

Find them by using:

• RamSearch
  • Run your topic search, then limit your results to the News Source Type
• Journal Search
  • Search for a newspaper or newsletter by name
• Our list of databases containing newspapers
  • Pick a newspaper database and run your topic search
• Read the NYT.com site for FREE courtesy of FSU
  • Follow the link to the NYT account site to sign up

Physical location:

• Our few remaining print newspapers are on the newspaper rack near the first floor fireplace

What they're useful for:

• Current news
• Primary sources for information about events from the past

Find them by using:

• RamSearch

  • Run search, then limit to the Magazines source type
  • RamSearch finds individual magazine articles, not entire issues

• Minuteman Library Network e-Magazines

  • Browse their e-magazine collection directly (without using the Minuteman Catalog Search)
  • These you can read in their entirety

Physical Location:

• Any remaining print magazines that we receive will be on the shelves to the right of the first floor fireplace

What they're useful for:

• Information and entertainment for the general public / non-experts

Find them by using:

• The Minuteman Catalog Search

  • Try using the two words Graphic Novel in your search; you can limit by a specific comic genre, and search via title or author
  • Any print graphic novels not owned by FSU can be requested and sent here

• RamSearch

  • There is no limiter for graphic novels in RamSearch; instead, include the phrase "graphic novel" somewhere in your search query

Physical location:

• First floor graphic novel exhibit around the fireplace
• Our stacks (book shelves on Lower Mezzanine or the Ground floor)
• In the Curriculum Library (Upper Mezzanine)

Find them by using:

• RamSearch
  • Run your topic search, then limit results to the Trade Publications source type
• Journal Search
  • Search for a trade journal by name
  • Include the phrase "trade journal" when you run your topic search

Physical Location:

• Any print trade journals we may still receive in will be on the shelves to the right of the first floor fireplace

What they're useful for:

• News, developments, trends, and professional development information for employed professionals

Find them by using:

• RamSearch

  • Run your topic search, then limit your results to the Academic Journals source type
  • NOTE: If you want to be guaranteed to have only peer-reviewed journal results, select the Peer reviewed limiter at the top of the results page instead

• Our Databases

  • The majority of our databases contain scholarly articles from academic journals, and allow you to limit your search to see only those results, and sometimes to see only peer-reviewed journal articles

• Journal Search

  • Run your topic search, then limit your results to the 'journal' Resource type
  • NOTE: If you want to be guaranteed to have only peer-reviewed journal results, select the 'Peer reviewed' in the 'Limit your results' area on the left of the results page
  • Search for your favorite academic journals by title or ISSN here as well

• Google Scholar

  • Run your topic search - all results will be limited to scholarly content (mostly journal articles)
  • When it is available, a link to free, online full text will be seen to the right of each result
  • For articles not available free online, check RamSearch for availability of a full text version from the Whittemore Library by running a search for the article's title with a double quote mark ( " ) on each end

Physical Location:

• Back issues of our print journals are shelved on the Lower Mezzanine level
• Some of our periodicals have back issues stored in the form of Microfiche or Microfilm (little films run through a reader that lets you see the pages on a lit screen).

What they're useful for:

• Reports of primary research being done in a discipline
• Other researchers' reactions towards published research reports
• Opinion pieces discussing current developments in that field
• Secondary articles which profile the development and progress of specific lines of inquiry

Find them by using:

• RamSearch
  • RamSearch will let you limit search results to the following types of 'Grey Literature': Reports, Dissertations / Theses,  Conference Materials
• Our Databases
  • The exact search limiters available for locating gray literature will vary between databases, but they do have them
• Your Favorite Internet Search Engine
  • Add the name of the type of gray literature you are seeking (e.g.: Report) to your search query

Physical Location:

• Any physical copies of gray literature (such as reports) that we have will be inter-filed in book stacks.
• There may be a few in the Curriculum Library.

What they're useful for:

• Scholarly / Academic information that has NOT yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal or book
• Includes: Theses, Dissertations, Conference Proceedings, Research Posters, White Papers, Reports, Working Papers, Slide Presentations, etc.
• Tends to represent the most current information on a topic at the time of creation - some of these items will be converted into journal articles or academic books after, but not always, and others - such as reports from NGOs or businesses - never will

Find them by using:

• Our Video Databases
  • Choose a database and run your topic search
• The Minuteman Catalog
  • Run your topic search then limit to your preferred video format: eVideo (streaming) or physical DVDs or VCDs
  • Physical items we do not own can be requested and delivered here to the library for you to pick up
• Our Databases
  • Short videos (generally news clips) may be available in our other databases
  • Run your topic search, then when available, limit to films / videos

Physically Located:

• DVD films are inter-filed amongst the main collection books
• Additional physical video media is available from other Minuteman Libraries

What they're useful for:

• Learn more about a topic (if documentaries from our databases)
• Primary resources for Film / Media studies
• Entertainment (especially films from the Minuteman Network)

Find them by using:

• The Minuteman Catalog
  • Run your topic search then limit to your preferred music format
  • Physical items we do not own can be requested and delivered here to the library for you to pick up
• RamSearch
  • Limit your results to the Audio source type
  • These will lead to videos of performances

Physically Located:

• Music CDs are inter-filed amongst the main collection books
• Additional physical music media is available from other Minuteman Libraries

What they're useful for:

• Music classes

Find them by using:

• The ROTEL OER Collection at Open Massachusetts

  • Grant-funded, peer-reviewed, equity and accessibility-centered OER, including award-winning texts by FSU authors

• The Mason OER Metafinder

  • Real-time, federated search of 22 popular online OER sites

• Pressbooks Directory

  • Large collection of Open Education Books, some with interactive H5P activities

• The FSU Digital Repository

  • Long-term archiving of publications by FSU community members

Physical Location:

• None; these are available free, online

What they're useful for:

• Self-directed learning of authoritative facts about a topic from a free, online, peer-reviewed book
• Adopting as a required textbook to give students free, online access to the information they need to succeed in their course
• Being adapted, revised, and/or re-mixed with other original or open content to create a new, up-to-date textbook

Find materials in:

• FSU Digital Repository
• Digital Exhibits@FSU (Omeka)
• Digital Commonwealth
• Internet Archive

Physical Location:

• Archives Room 101 (by prior arrangement only)
• Special Collections Room 110 (by prior arrangement only)

What they're useful for:

• Primary sources for events from the past
• Viewing FSU's intellectual output over time
• Learning more about FSU history via handwritten and printed texts and ephemera

Find materials by using:

• RamSearch
• The Minuteman Catalog

Physical location:

• Upper Mezzanine and UM-16

What these materials are useful for:

• Using and borrowing current curricular materials and children's literature if you're training to be a K - 12 teacher
• Borrowing children's and Young Adult literature for personal use